Song of the year, number 3: Penfriend - Black Car [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

The video for 'Black Car' was filmed in Bristol during lockdown three, and the single was released as the UK began to emerge, once again, from lockdown in March 2021. 'Black Car' has proved to be a very honest, atmospheric and considered mediation on the pandemic that will endure long beyond its end. It was released just ahead of Laura Kidd's debut album as Penfriend, Exotic Monsters, itself a reference to Margaret Attwood, and while there's an aspect of the apocalyptic to 'Black Car', it's really more like a diary entry than a dystopian future. A dystopian now if you will. Kidd has made a number of public statements about why she had no plans to return to playing live in 2021, and 'Black Car' reinforces her feelings. 

Penfriend, Exotic Monsters or the triumphant return of Laura Kidd

Laura Kidd, photo courtesy of Wilful Publicity

In her first album under new moniker Penfriend Laura Kidd shows us how much she has grown as a songwriter and producer

It was in 2019 that Laura Kidd, having happily made music under the  name She Makes War for nine years, decided a change was due. When she started her musical career in 2010, she felt as though it was her - an aspiring DIY artist - against the world, hence She Makes War. But by the end of 2019 she had left the London music scene behind and was happily established in Bristol with a well respected, hard fought for reputation as a session musician as well as performer in her own right. She was no longer making war, she was simply making music, and doing so in a way that felt collaborative rather than combative: Reaching out to listeners, making friends with them. Hence, Penfriend.

Given that Penfriend launched in the dying days of 2019, just as the pandemic was poised to take hold in China, it's a testament to Kidd's adaptability and resilience that she's not only continued to write, record and produce (all from her home studio, The Launchpad) throughout 2020 and 2021, but that she's also launched a successful podcast, Attention Engineer.

This debut album as Penfriend was released on Friday 21st May, is named after a line from a Margaret Atwood novel, and - while nodding at times to Kidd's previous work as She Makes War - above all else demonstrates what an accomplished, assured and sophisticated songwriter/producer she has become.

The opening title track is a sparse, dystopian slice of minimalist electro that sounds like the soundtrack Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World never knew it needed. Kidd further experiments with the electro oevre on 'I used to know everything', a moogy synth pop piece which is slow, moody and very 1980s, 'I wasn't made for this world' she sings at one point. There's electro flourishes elsewhere too and one of the most innovative sonic experiments is 'Loving Echoes', which features eerie vocals stylings and rough, pared down synthetic percussion. It has the feel of an electro take on The Slits but the subject matter is digital dystopia, with Kidd singing about the horrors of being in thrall to technology during lockdown while simultaneously experiencing digital and emotional disconnections and alienation. The result is eerie, innovative, evocative and quietly savage. Very 2021. 

'Dispensable Body' fuses sunny electro with a style of indie pop that is reminiscent of the late 1980s and early 1990s indie only more intricate and delicate sounding. It's got a big swooping, swooning chorus and is eerie and anthemic in a delicate, summery kind of way. 'Seashaken' is also experimental, with a toy piano riff to start that gives way to banjo and gorgeous layered vocals. It's woozy and minimalist, pretty and childlike with a hint of strings, like a lullaby. 

Kidd hasn't abandoned her guitar however, as evidenced by the melodic grunge of 'Seventeen', some truly epic guitar riffs on 'Hell Together', and the anthemic 'I'll start a fire', which is reminiscent of mid period Hole. 'Cancel Your Hopes' is another surging slice of grunge rock, which is enhanced by nightmarish keyboard riffs, taking the listener into a sonic descent into a dark, claustrophobic garage rock hole. It has a fantastic freewheeling moshability quality, with excellent riff work and crisp percussion that nods to the best work of L7. 

The album closes with 'Black Car', a pandemic era anthem of dread, fear and death which is signified by the lyrical motif of the funereal black car. It is perhaps the most lyrically and musically sophisticated track on the album and is a strong contender for song of the year, evoking as it does the fear and dread of lockdown in the UK, and perhaps beyond. 'Keep your loved ones close, even on calm waters waves will rise' she sings bleakly. It is quiet, brooding and highly atmospheric, the darkest but also the most anthemic song on the album, and the one that stays with the listener the most. It is the perfect closing track for a clever, sophisticated and highly listenable album by a highly skilled, developing artist. 

Penfriend - Exotic Monsters [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

The artist formerly known as She Makes War, Laura Kidd began making music as Penfriend in 2020. 'Exotic Monsters' is her second single and demonstrates Kidd with her electro hat on, building on the kind of sonic experimentation she began as SMW with tracks like 'Delete'. Over the years her songwriting, as well as her production skills, have become increasingly sophisticated and 'Exotic Monsters' (a Margaret Atwood reference) is a strong sign of good things to come. 

Penfriend - Everything Looks Normal In The Sunshine (with lyrics)

Because Laura Kidd had only launched Penfriend back in May, this is the only song available at the moment. There is a playlist, on the She Makes War YouTube channel, of various live songs by Laura as She Makes War though, which will give you an idea of her previous sound.

Fantasy Festival number 20: The Lineup

Penfriend: The new project of Bristol based Laura Kidd, previously known as She Makes War, Penfriend had the bad luck to launch just prior to Covid-19 really taking hold, as lockdowns began to be imposed around the world. The initial two tracks Laura let loose into the world before all of this happened sounded promising though and, as She Makes War, she was a force to be reckoned with live. You can find out more here.

Gaptooth: Bristol based Hannah Lucy has been making music as Gaptooth since 2005. Since then, she's released two albums of increasingly slick agit prop synth pop, most notably the song 'Ladykillers' and her collaboration with Sisters Uncut, 'They Cut We Bleed'. She is as much an activist as a musician, and has both performed and acted as steward at the annual Loud Women fest in London. You can find out more here.

Ms Mohammed: London based Dana Mohammed has been making ferocious garage punk with queer feminist edges as Ms Mohammed since 2017 but, as this interview will show, her impressive music and activist backstory extends much further back than that. Her music has been praised by Iggy Pop on his BBC 6Music show, and last year she did a talk for TEDX London on the theme of authenticity over assimilation, which you can watch here. She's also on Bandcamp.

Liines: Manchester's tightest "alternative post-punk band", Liines, have been slowly building up their fanbase over the past five years. They released their debut album, Stop-Start, in 2018 and supported Sleaford Mods on their UK tour last year. You can find them on Bandcamp.

Dream Nails: This band of London punk feminists formed in 2015, and have been making catchy but angry punk pop tunes ever since. Their hotly awaited digital album is imminent. You can find them on Bandcamp.

Big Joanie: "We're like The Ronettes filtered through 80s DIY and riot grrrl with a sprinkling of dashikis" says their Bandcamp biog. Musicians, writers, and activists all, the London based Big Joanie supported Sleater-Kinney on a number of their UK dates earlier this year. Their debut album, Sistah's, was released in 2018. Their Bandcamp is here.

The Raincoats: London punk legends The Raincoats have been writing idiosyncratic masterpieces since 1977. Their first three albums were all re-released in the 1990s thanks to interest from Kurt Cobain (who was responsible for the bands reformation in 1993) and Sonic Youth, and they have continued to record and perform, on and off, ever since. You can find out more here.

Bikini Kill: The return of Bikini Kill (along with Gossip) was one of the more unexpected but highly exciting reformations and live reunions of 2019. This iconoclastic punk band originally formed in 1990 in Olympia, Washington, and were key players in the riot grrrl scene in Olympia when it began in 1991. They split up in 1997, but clearly felt they were needed in 2019. You can find out more here.